Pipelines and Alternatives

Saudi Arabia is some 9,625 kilometres from Quebec, where Saudi oil is imported to Canada. Wouldn’t it be nice if Eastern Canada got its oil from a democratic country with an excellent record on civil rights and environmental protection, like, say, Canada?

The initial Energy East project proposal – a 4,500-kilometre pipeline that would carry 1.1 million barrels a day of Western Canadian crude oil to refineries in Eastern Canada – was stymied by regulatory overkill and tepid political support in Ottawa, Ontario and Quebec.

Scott Armstrong was at Victoria Square in Amherst on Friday to introduce Conservative Party Leader Andrew Scheer during a meet-and-greet. Many Maritimer’s, including Scott Armstrong’s son, rely upon a vibrant oil and gas industry in western Canada.

“With a project like Energy East we can displace that foreign oil, create jobs here in Canada, and get a step closer to being self-sufficient as a country when it comes to energy,” said Scheer during a meet-and-greet Friday afternoon at Victoria Square in Amherst.

Lost in the summer haze is one of the largest nation-building job opportunities seen in a generation. The Energy East pipeline project would have been a massive game changer that assured our energy independence and kick-started an increasingly sluggish economy.